5 Ecommerce Mistakes to Avoid: A Newbie’s Guide

We live in a connected world where business is a global phenomenon. This situation created many new professions and business sectors. One of these sectors is online shopping.

Working in the eCommerce field is very tempting as sharing products or service has never been easier. In fact, creating an online store is a piece of cake – just check the most popular eCommerce platforms. Nowadays you don’t need any special education or programming knowledge to be able to sell goods over the internet.

Creating your first online store may be done in just a couple of clicks, but this doesn’t mean that it will be a successful one. In order to build a profitable online business, you do need to know some basics or at least to avoid the most common mistakes. This is where we come to help!

We’ve made a list of the 5 eCommerce mistakes to avoid. If you are a newbie in the field - follow our list, refrain from these frequent errors and you will be one step closer to a proper eCommerce owner. Use our knowledge in your favor!

Mistake #1: Not knowing Where to Find your Customer Online

Knowing your customers is probably the most important factor for a successful business, no matter if it’s an eCommerce or a physical shop. With online stores even if you’re not aware what the preferences of your audience are in the beginning, you can learn them by analyzing statistics and your posting reach.

When it comes to eCommerce, you need to know what the appropriate channels are to reach your target audience. There are a number of channels that work only in specific business areas so picking channels randomly, just for the sake of it won’t work. A simple example - If you’re trying to sell clothes via a channel with predominately second-and electronics you don’t have a chance.

Before you pick your selling channels make a throughout research on products that are similar to yours. Check which marketplaces are your competitors using and think if they will work for you. If yes – go for them! Use all the information that you could get from your competition in a productive way, that way you can avoid their mistakes and learn from their successful actions.

Mistake #2: Not Maximizing Social Media

Social media is not only about sharing photos and good music. Social media platforms are now closely connected to everything ecommerce because you can easily advertise your product and even sell it directly through the social media platform.

Learn how platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Google+ work and publish your customer stories, promotions, special offerings or behind-the-scenes footage. Create a dialog with your future customers by posting videos, polls or through chat.

Platforms like Facebook and Instagram already offer the ability to tag your product on a photo and link it directly to the purchase point. That way a visitor can easily buy your product with just three or four clicks. Is there even an easier way?

Mistake #3: Not Knowing your Niche

In today’s world everything is being sold and in order to succeed we need to focus on a specific product or service. Thinking that, the more type of products we sell - the more profit – does not work, trust us! Don’t try to cover the needs of every customer out there, as it is not possible.

There are a number of marketing specialists that recommend focusing on a specific audience that needs a particular type of product. Selling too much different products is a big source of failure according to them.

So, before even setting up your online store, think carefully what your niche is, and have you even found it yet? Think carefully on this matter because your whole business depends on it. For example, if you want to get into the toy business, don’t offer all the toys you could get your hands on…you’re not Amazon. Pick a specific niche, that would gather particular clients, like small bicycles for example, or talking dolls – there are plenty of options, you just need to dig deeper!

Mistake #4: Getting Ahead of Yourself

We all have grand ideas in the beginning of our ecommerce journey. We all believe that we will be a huge success and people will love us immediately. We hope that everything will be as you’ve dreamt it, but keep things safe and steady in the beginning.

One of the most common newbie mistakes is filling up your garage with hundreds of products without knowing what the real demand will be. Don’t over-stock before knowing how many can you sell, because you’ll wonder what to do with them.

Try to determine the demand of a similar product, as many professionals advice. Check a big marketplace like Amazon or Ebay and see how many similar items have been sold in the last month or year. That way you will know how many products you need for a certain period even if the demand is of huge proportions.

Mistake #5: Losing focus

Launching a successful ecommerce business includes many necessary tasks…creating marketing content, picking up the right images, being sure that everything works as intended or setting up the payment gateways – everything is important in the beginning. But as TO-DO tasks add up you won’t be able to do everything in a timely manner. This is when you need to prioritize what needs to be done in time and what can wait.

Our advice is to always focus on the things that directly affect your customers. For example, taking care of a customer complaint or delivering a late order is much more important than fixing that broken link in the About Us page. Always put your client in first place, keep them happy and surely you will be successful.

Every business has its specifics and ecommerce is no exception. When new to the craft, we are all prone to mistakes that can be hardly avoided. This is where every newbie should search for advices on how to avoid as much mistakes as possible.

We are in the ecommerce business for some time now and we know what the most common newbie errors are. Use our top 5 ecommerce mistakes to avoid and you’ll surely be one step ahead of the competition. We wish you luck!